


Change On The Horizon

by Anney_Oaklee



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29927748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anney_Oaklee/pseuds/Anney_Oaklee
Summary: Sarah Larabee's son has been stolen and switched with another baby.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. A Son Lost-A Son Found

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any peacekeepers. I used inspiration from many fantasy books, lore, and movies. If you recognize it I probably don't own it.

Sarah had refused to hold the boy not long after he was born. She had claimed he wasn't her son but a changeling put in his place. Chris had tried reasoning with her, reassuring her, finally, he even threatened to take the bawling baby and never come back.

His son was weakening. His howling cries had died down to whimpers. Chris ran a hand through his light-colored hair, upsetting the spikes he'd already made of the locks. He didn't know what to do. His loving wife had sleepily but happily nursed their son the night before. He looked down into the wet blue eyes. Brushing a gentle finger against a wisp of fine baby hair, he felt like bawling too.

"Ezra, you have to eat," The young father again brought the skin of goat's milk to the still trembling lips. The baby let out a loud, hoarse cry before breaking into coughing fits between cries.

"Chris, what's happened?" Chris's half-brother came tearing into the house, from the dark night. "I felt something off. Is Sarah alright?"

Chris spared Buck a tired look before dropping his head in defeat. The baby continued to squall weakly in his arms.

Chris felt like crying as well. "No, she refuses to feed Ezra."

"Ezra?" Buck saw the child for the first time since he entered the house. His right eye flashed white as he took in the fussing baby.

"Yes, Ezra!" Chris snapped, "Your newly born nephew that you saw yesterday!"

"That's not Ezra," Buck spoke slowly, mostly to himself.

"Don't you start on this bullshit, too," Chris growled, tightening his hold on his son.

"Where's Sarah?" Buck ignored him.

"I'm here, Buck," Sarah came into the room red-eyed and swaying on her feet. Her eyes went to her husband but he refused to meet her look. Almost against her will, she then looked down at the baby he was still trying, unsuccessfully, to feed. The blue eyes meet her own. Her heart clenched, he wasn't her baby, he wasn't Ezra. She ached to hold her boy. But this boy had no mother to hold him. No one to care for him, to love him. He wasn't Ezra, but she always wanted more than one child. She could love him as her own. And when Ezra came home he would have a brother.

"Vin," Sarah spoke softly walking hesitantly over to her husband and new son.

"What?" Chris asked, clutching the baby closer to his chest.

"His name is Vin," Sarah declared as she tenderly took the boy from him.

"All this over a damn name change," Chris stood up abruptly near hysterical.

"Chris," Buck warned, grabbing his brother and dragging him outside.

"What the in Hell is Going On?!" Chris shouted as the front door closed.

Sarah could hear the muffled shouts as she shakily sat down where her husband had sat for hours taking care of Vin. The baby studied her intently, his blue eyes seemingly glowing. It felt like he was studying her very soul.

She ran a finger down his fine features, speaking softly, "You are not my baby. But I'm willing to be your mother. Someday, Ezra will come home. You need to promise to be his brother. You are my son now, Vin." She placed a feather-light kiss on his head before she began to nurse him for the first time.

By the time the two brothers came back into the house, the new mother and son were peacefully fast asleep.

* * *

"Ezra!" A beautiful blonde being called out in exasperation.

She hurried along until she found the young boy nestled into an alcove with a book.

Maude looked down at him. His amber locks were perfectly coiffed and his intelligent eyes missed nothing. She could almost pretend he truly belonged in her world, except for his round ears.

"Remember, Ezra, you are special. A boy among elves."

"Yes, Mother."

"Now come along we must return to the Court. The King has visitors."

Ezra was uniquely suited for a particular job in the Elvish court. As a human changeling raised in the Elvish realm he could see through any glamour. Maude, the elf that had raised him as her son, hired out his services to the highest bidder. Currently, they lived at the palace, at King Seosamh's beck and call.

He was searching for a wife and didn't want to be deceived by any beings' glamour. He wanted someone truly beautiful.

"Announcing Vizier Averil of the Culpepper Kingdom," The court attendant introduced a dark-haired elf.

Maude stiffened a quick emotion flashed through her eyes. Ezra thought it looked like fear. He'd never known his mother to be afraid of anything. Even difficult situations meant nothing to her as she easily slipped free unscathed.

"Forgive us, your majesty," Maude used her concerned mother's voice, "Ezra is feeling unwell." Ezra easily reading the cues looked on the verge of losing his last meal.

The King hesitated so Ezra began to quietly groan until he dismissed them with a distracted wave of his hand. They left with a curtsey and shaky bow. Once outside the grand doorway Maude grabbed Ezra's hand in an almost vice-like grip and hurried to their quarters. Ezra had no choice but to stumble after her fast graceful steps. He knew better than to question her out in the open. He waited until their private door closed behind them.

"Mother? What is going on?"

"Pack your bag, dear," Maude ignored his question, "We won't be returning."

"What, why?" Ezra had enjoyed his light duties, fine food, elegant furnishings, and unlimited library access. Why were they leaving such easy pickings?

"Now, Ezra!" Maude snapped. She rarely lost her composure.

"But, I don't want to leave," Ezra confessed softly. The little family had faced difficult times before coming to the palace. Possible jobs turned down when Ezra's human status was revealed. There had been tension in some areas against the human world. So they had little in ways of money and food. Ezra didn't want to leave the safety they'd found in the palace.

"Why are humans so contrary?" Maude spoke just as softly before turning to the little boy. The human boy that she had raised. She gently cupped his face in her flawless hands before turning his green eyes up to meet her inhuman ones.

"Ezra, Dear, It's not safe here anymore." Ezra searched her eyes for any falsehoods before he gave a shaky nod in understanding. He left to go pack his belongings without another word.

Mother and son left behind the safety of King Seosamh without a backward glance. As they drew closer to their destination Ezra began to flag from the overwhelming magic. She caught him as he fell into a deep sleep. Maude lifted her boy into her arms just as she did when last she passed through the gate separating the Fae and human worlds. She studied his fine features fondly. He wasn't hers at the beginning. He was born to another, a human. She had been hired to steal him from his cradle and switch him with another. She was supposed to take him to her employer, the Queen of the Culpepper Kingdom. But Ezra was her boy. She had vowed to raise and protect him. The only way to protect him now was to take him home. She just hoped Ezra would someday understand even if he could never forgive the being he called Mother.

It was no cottage in the woods, more of a shack nestled among the trees. None of its occupants were witches but there was something different about them. On the surface, it appeared to be two adult brothers, one dark-haired the other fair. The last member of the household was the blond man's young son. All very true but not the whole truth. Few stories are ever so simple or straightforward.

Maude watched from a distance. She cradled the sleeping form in her arms. She had replaced their son, but now she was bringing him back. She just hoped she was strong enough to leave him with the family she'd stolen him from.


	2. Prodigal Son Returns

Buck's mother had been a powerful priestess. She'd been driven from the Order when it became apparent that she was with child. The Order practiced celibacy but she had been young and foolish. So had her lover, Lord Larabee.

He was a young widower with a young child. His wife had died in childbirth. He'd been overwhelmed and lonely since her death. Taking any mission from the King to try to escape his pain. He had been sent as a protector of the Order's citadel. Spending long nights guarding against foreign attacks. The citadel held all the Kingdom's greatest magic and knowledge.

She was gifted in prophecy. One night she had escaped the safety of her chambers running from her visions of the future. She ran straight into the young nobleman's arms and there she stayed. At least until he followed his broken heart into another battle and joined his wife in death. Leaving behind a young son and a mistress carrying another son he'd never know.

After being expelled from the only home she'd ever know. The woman, known once as Priestess Wilmington, worked in any job she could to raise her young son. She knew from her visions that she would die young. She wrote a letter to her boy explaining his paternity, so he might have someone after she was gone. She prayed her lover's son would accept his brother. As she died in her precious son's arms, she saw a vision of her son standing side by side with a blond man so much like the man she once loved.

Buck awoke in a cold sweat. With a gasp, he sat up peering around his darkened room. He often dreamed of his mother. Seeing flashes of her life through the gift of magic she's given him. She had been skilled in seeing the future; while he often received feelings of coming changes, he could never see what was coming. He could only see flashes of what had been.

He often felt useless, seeing things after they'd happen. He could torture himself seeing details of events past. But he got no warning to try to prevent them. He'd lost his mother to her violent death when he was young. Chris had almost been trapped forever in a fairy circle when they'd been young men. If it hadn't been for Josiah and his magic he would have lost his brother forever. It had only been a few years since Sarah and Adam had been killed in the fire. He'd almost lost his whole family again, but thankfully Vin had survived, thanks to Nathan's doctoring. He didn't think Chris would have survived if he didn't have Vin to live for. He was thankful every day that Vin was still with them.

He loved his nephew dearly, but he still wondered what happened to the boy he'd replaced.

Buck's seer's eye flashes white.

Buck had had enough of self-pity of what could have been. He felt as if his mother was trying to tell him something. He had a nagging feeling there was something he'd forgotten or lost. He got up and pulled on his pants over his nightclothes. It may be the middle of the night but he'd get no more sleep until he figured out what he needed to remember. His mother had always taught him to listen to his heart, and it was telling him to find what was missing.

It'd been a normal day around the cabin. He and his nephew had gathered herbs and plants to trade with Nathan, who was the herbalist and healer in town.

Perhaps he'd left something in the forest or left a tool out or even left the milk out to grow warm on the table. But his mother wouldn't bother with such trivialities. Something had happened that he needed to discover.

He left his room.

He stopped in front of Chris' door, debating. It was cracked open in case his son needed anything. He decided to just listen for the blond's deep, even breathing of sleep. He didn't want to open the door any further and wake his brother; Chris had always been a light sleeper.

"Buck?" A groggy voice asked.

"Go back to sleep, Chris," Buck didn't want to worry his brother with his strange feeling.

Chris sat up, rubbing his eyes, "Everythin' okay?"

He paused contemplating. He felt the change coming but it didn't feel dangerous.

"Everything's gonna be fine, Stud," Buck promised with a soft grin.

"Don't stay up too late. We have an early morning."

Buck listened as his brother fell back to sleep. They'd both have to be up in a couple of hours. They needed to complete chores and get their wares packed up in time to take them to town for the Summer Solstice Festival.

Buck went out the back door, not knowing where he was heading but trusting that he was being led to where he needed to be. His mother wanted him to find something. He intended to find whatever it was.

He tripped over something and fell to the forest floor with a grunt. He turned to see what caused him to fall and was meet with green eyes that were so much like his brother's. He stared in shock for a moment.

"Kid? You okay?" He asked, worried he'd hurt the boy when he tripped over the small form, "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

The kid just stared at him with fearful eyes. He scooted away from the unknown man looking ready to bolt into the dark night. Buck didn't want to have to chase the poor kid through the woods. He was clearly alone possibly abandoned. He knew he'd found what he'd been sent to find. But he didn't know why the lost green-eyed boy had been his to find. Then the truth whispered itself into his heart.

"Ezra?"

"Yes?" The boy halted his escape, hesitating, "Who are you?"

"I think I'm your uncle," Buck wanted to pull his lost nephew into his arms.

"Mother has no brothers," The little boy crossed his arms in defiance.

Buck knew the boy's mother, Sarah, was dead. Someone had stolen Ezra; was it the woman claiming to be his mother? Who had brought him back? Buck needed answers, "Ezra, where is your mother?"

The boy's face showed a flash of sadness before it went carefully blank. He turned his face away refusing to answer the stranger's questions. The mustached man felt familiar. Ezra didn't know why but he felt safe. He wanted to be enveloped in the man's arms and tell him all his fears.

"Ezra," Buck asked softly, almost pleading.

"She was taking me to my father," The boy admitted softly, "I woke up and she was gone."

"Ezra, who's your father?"

"Chris Larabee," Ezra whispered as his uncle finally lost the battle and swept his lost nephew up into his arms. The boy sobbed out his loneliness and confusion into the strong shoulder. He fell into a deep slumber as his newly found uncle carried him home to be reunited with his father.

"Chris!" Buck hissed into his brother's room before taking his precious cargo into his own room. The dark-haired man carefully deposited the slumbering child onto his bed. He stood watching his lost nephew sleep in the pale moonlight. Noticing the little detail of his features that his parents had passed on to him.

"Buck!" Chris stumbled into the room, with his sword drawn, "Who's that?"

"It's Ezra."

"Ezra…" Chris's hoarse voice held wonder as he looked at the child he never believed he'd truly lost until now. He'd loved his firstborn as much as Adam but he'd never believed he was a different boy from the one Sarah gave birth to. Ezra or Vin, it didn't matter to him what his son's name was, he loved him either way. But Vin wasn't Ezra. Ezra was stolen from him.

"Are we not going to the fest?" Vin stood shyly in the shadows of the doorway. Concerned blue eyes taking in the young stranger sleeping in his uncle's bed. The little boy knew something was wrong. Something had changed among his family and it had to do with the sleeping stranger.


	3. Becoming Brothers

As the sun rose, the older set of brothers sat down with the two new brothers for a talk at the kitchen table. They told the boys that Ezra was Chris's firstborn son, who had been stolen as an infant. They did not get into the speculation that the woman who raised Ezra was actually the being who had stolen him from his family. Neither did they go into details of Vin's suspected heritage. They kept it simple for the two young boys who suddenly found themselves with a brand new brother.

Breakfast was a tense affair. Nobody had much to say yet plates remained mostly full. The adults were watching Ezra as if when they looked away he'd disappear. Ezra kept a careful watch on the strangers claiming to be his family. Vin avoided looking anywhere but down at his plate.

Vin silently left the table, mumbling something about doing his chores. Buck eventually tore his eyes away from his nephew claiming he had projects of his own to complete too. Leaving the father and son alone.

"May I go and clean up?" Ezra politely asked with only slight hesitation. He felt dirty. Dressed in his wrinkled, grimy clothes from the day before. His mother always told him appearances were everything. Except she wasn't his mother.

He just wanted to go home.

Ezra locked the washroom door with a sigh. He slid down its solid surface, appreciating its ability to shut out the world even if it was an illusion that could be easily shattered. He curled into himself as he tried to collect himself. He refused to show his emotions again in front of these strangers, even if they were his family. Traveling through the barrier had seemed to strip him of all his emotional walls. He refused to acknowledge the factor of his mother's abandonment and the lies and secrets she kept from him about who he really was. He'd always known he was human, there was no way to really hide that fact. Even a glamour couldn't change the fact that he was a human among elves. But he'd never even thought that he had a human family waiting for him to return.

What a strange family they were. His father seemed...intimidatingly. The dark-clothed man radiated danger. He didn't think his father would hurt him but his mother had raised him to be cautious when dealing with a new threat. He needed to get a lay of the land and study the players before he could join the game.

There was a knock at the door. He felt it vibrate through his back as he jumped up in fright.

"Ezra, I left some clean clothes by the door," Buck called out.

"Thank you."

He took a few quiet deep breaths to get his nerve back under control before he opened the door and gathered the clothes. Quickly closing and locking the door once more.

The man that had found him was indeed his uncle. The dark-haired man as open as his brother was closed off. The brothers seemed as different as night and day. They looked nothing alike yet they seemed to share a brotherly bond that only developed from a prolonged deep relationship. They shared a history full of pain that they rarely spoke of yet it laid over them like fog. Perhaps it was the loss of the woman he'd never meet. He tried to avoid thinking of the woman that gave birth to him. Did she know he was stolen? Did she ever miss him? Had she waited for his return? What happened to her?

Ezra examined the garments with distaste. They were clearly altered from his new brother's wardrobe. They were not what he preferred but he'd had worse. But taking his clothes would not help endear him to his new brother. With a sigh, he undressed and sat in the heated water-filled tub.

Ezra prided himself on being able to read others but he could not figure out his new brother. The boy seemed normal enough. Suffering from jealousy and perceived rejection with the arrival of a new sibling. He was quiet, even more so than their father. Yet his presence was anything but. Ezra grew up among Fae folk, with their magic and wild ways. He could see through their glamour because their true presence was too much to hide from the human boy. For some reason, Vin felt like home.

Dressed in someone else clothes he exited the safety of the little room to face his family of strangers.

The day passed slowly, with stilted conversations, awkward silences, and prolonged staring when the watcher thought nobody was watching. Or in Vin's case outright avoidance.

"You boys will share this room," Chris looked down at his two sons.

Vin's room had been rearranged to accommodate the new occupant. A temporary cot, Buck put together until another bed could be made, sat against one wall. Some of Vin's nightclothes had been quickly altered to fit his new brother. Neither boy seemed very happy about the new arrangements. They stood glaring at one another in silence.

Their father didn't know how to make the adjustment run more smoothly. He tried to talk and reason with each of his sons. He received clipped answers from one and silence from the other. Sarah could have fixed the situation easily. But all they had left was just him. Finally, he sighed in defeat; it would take time to get used to all the changes. He told the boys to get ready for bed and left them to change in privacy.

Ezra picked up the harmonica and inspected the engravings carved into its metal surface. He felt a hand grab at his arm jerking the instrument from his grip. He turned to meet furious blue eyes.

"That's mine."

"It says it's from Sarah Larabee to her beloved son."

Vin traced the letters without looking at the engraved words. "She was my mama."

"Technically she was my mother first." Ezra was confused at being thrust into this new life. He hurt so bad at his mother's abandonment that he wanted someone else to hurt too

"You're not my real brother," Vin was just as confused at the presence of the new interloper into his little family. They were fine before Ezra invaded their home. They were just starting to become happy again after the tragedy of the fire. He was finally starting to feel like it wasn't his fault. That he wasn't part of something broken, that would never be whole again. Now he felt like an outsider in his own family.

They stood in tense silence eyeing each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Slowly, at the same time, they moved towards their own beds. Laying down they both turned towards the wall. As they closed their eyes they hoped it all turned out to be a bad dream when they woke up in the morning. They wanted things to go back to normal; they wanted their own lives back.

* * *

Life changed for the little family that lived in the woods.

Vin spent more time alone among the trees; disappearing for hours at a time. Whenever Ezra tried to follow, the other boy melted among the forage as if he was more wild than human. It was just another thing to add to the mental list of things Ezra was trying to figure out about his new brother. In the meantime, it left him alone with the adults. He'd never spent much time with other children between his court duties and being human. But he didn't want to talk about his past or do chores, so he'd been escaping into the written world while his brother ran away to the woods. They were both miserable and lonely yet they refused to be friends.

Ezra sat reading by the front window when Vin came in carrying a full sack.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," He answered a little too quickly, as he tried to hide the 'nothing' behind his back.

"If it's nothing you won't mind if I take a look."

Vin backed away from the slowly approaching boy, "No, it's mine."

"It seems everything that is yours is now mine as well," Ezra waved a hand bitterly at his hand-me-down clothes. He was tired of not having anything of his own. He wanted the bag full of his own clothes and possessions he'd packed back at the King's palace. He didn't know what had happened to it, but he missed it sorely. Craving something familiar in this strange new place.

Buck walked in from the kitchen to break up the newly developing fight, "Find some more treasure?" He asked with a tense grin.

Ezra perked up at the mention of treasure while Vin mimicked his father's glare up at his uncle.

"It's mine," He growled as he stomped off to the boys' shared room.

The boys started hiding things from one another. Whether it was to stop the other from using it or just to be an irritant it didn't matter as it was the catalyst that exploded their uneasy truce into all-out war. Hiding and sometimes even damaging each other's possessions turned into yelling and physical fighting. When the adults quickly put an end to their open combat by punishment and threat they turned their war into a secret one. Using pranks and whispered taunts they made the house quiet but tense.

"Nice hair," Vin grinned taking in the bright off-colored locks.

Vin spat out a mouthful of heavily salted food. Silently glaring at the smirking culprit.

Ezra itched in a very ungentlemanly manner as he walked into the kitchen for breakfast. Vin snorted into his drink trying to keep from laughing aloud at his plight.

Vin sat glaring at the wall as Buck sighed in frustration behind him. The man picked up the ruined lock, caked in sticky substance beyond saving before he snipped it off. Vin flinched. Snipping as quickly as possible Buck felt like he was scalping his nephew instead of giving him a haircut. Ezra sat unrepentant in the corner as he awaited his punishment as he watched the aftermath of his prank. Vin shouldn't have started a war he couldn't win. Ezra had come here with nothing, therefore he had nothing to lose.

Buck finished evening out the hair. Vin scrambled out of the chair before Buck could brush the excess hair off his slumped shoulders. He turned long enough to glare at Ezra before he was running toward the safety of the trees. Revealing the previously hidden ears, no longer curtained by long locks. Ears that pointed upward. Vin was not human. The thing that Ezra had suspected since the moment he'd met his new brother. Here was the proof. He had the ultimate upper hand. But the tears he'd seen shinning in the glaring blue eyes prevented him from feeling any joy in his victory.

* * *

The boys went back to ignoring each other; having lost the will to even fight against one another.

Vin spent even less time with his family if that were possible. His odd ears impossible to hide made him shy and reclusive around even his father. Anytime they were brought up he'd clam up or leave. While the two men struggled to keep Vin indoors for any amount of time, Ezra refused to leave his bed. He slept late, ate little, and didn't talk much. He read every book in the house twice, trying to escape his reality for a new one.

"Ezra, I need you to eat something," Chris held out a plate of plain bread and cut up fruit. He'd started out being firm, ordering his son to take care of himself. That didn't work, neither did anger or outright begging. His son would just throw up what he'd forced down then curl up in bed and pretend to sleep.

Chris was at his wit's end. He'd sent Buck to get Nathan and Josiah from town. He didn't know if Ezra was sick, depressed, cursed, or feeling the effects of living in the Fae Realm. And that was just one son. He felt like he hadn't seen Vin in days. As the boy aged his true heritage began to reveal itself. Ezra's arrival seemed to just expedited Vin's crisis. He didn't know how to help his son figure out who and what he was, let alone accept it. Vin had struggled with himself since before the fire. His differences highlighted and mocked by the small-minded bigoted people in town. Since the loss of Sarah and Adam, he'd felt adrift, without a paddle. He didn't know how to bring him and his sons safely ashore.

Vin watched silently as Buck, Josiah, and Nathan rode quickly into the yard before rushing into the house. He knew Ezra had been acting sick. He thought the other boy was just pouting after getting into trouble for the hair incident. Trying to milk sympathy while it was Vin who lost his hair. He always hated his ears, they were different and foreign-looking. He was still mad at his new brother for exposing them for all the world to see and judge. But it wasn't just Nathan that was here it was Josiah too. Something was seriously wrong. Vin crept towards the house. Peaking into his bedroom window he watched Ezra be examined. Everybody was frowning and looked grim. Ezra was probably not feeling good cause he refused to get of bed. He just needed some fresh air. Being outside always made Vin feel better. Vin waited till all the adults left his room before climbing into the window.

"He's been marked," Josiah spoke softly in the kitchen.

"Marked?" Chris demanded, "Marked with what?"

"In order for a human to live in the Fae Realm, they must be marked in order to eat their food."

"So?" Buck asked, not sure why that would affect the boy in the human world.

"He was never unmarked."

Josiah nodded at the worried father's guess, "Yes. He needs to be unmarked in order to eat our food."

"Can you do it?"

"No."

"Damnit," Chris fumed throwing the chair against the wall. He'd lost enough sons.

"Chris," Nathan walked in berating the frustrated father for disturbing his patient.

They sat discussing treatments and ways to get the boy unmarked. when they finally went to check on their patient they discovered he was gone. The only sign he'd been there, in the empty room, was the open window.

* * *

"Let's go," Vin waved his hand for Ezra to follow him, "I want to show you something."

"What?" Ezra asked weakly refusing to even sit up in bed.

"Just wait and see," He gave a mischievous smile as he threw some new clothes at his head. Ezra pulled the garments down gapping widemouthed at the other boy.

"Is this a trick?" The prank war was still fresh on his mind as he looked at the shortened locks. Vin shook his head as his fingers went unconsciously to his hair. Ezra studied him for a moment longer before he struggled up and into his clothes. Vin helped him out the window, noting his shaking hands. They took off at a run enjoying the adventure of sneaking out with a partner in crime. But Ezra couldn't run very far. They slowed to a walk with Vin hovering close by in case Ezra's steps faltered again.

Vin led the way into the forest stopping at a large tree

"What is this?" Ezra craned his neck trying to see the top of the tree.

Vin shushed him, waving his hand indicating for the other boy to stand by him.

"This is my secret place," He confessed quietly, "It's where I listen."

"Listen for what?"

Vin just shrugged and sat against the tree trunk. Looking up expectantly until they were sat side by side in the silence of the forest. Slowly, cautiously wildlife began to appear. Squirrels climbed down tree trunks, rabbits peaked out of burrows, birds flew out of the sky and even a young doe moved close enough to nuzzle the motionless boys' hair. Ezra gasped in surprise, even growing up in the Fae realm had not prepared him for the actions of wild creatures around his new brother. Vin moved slowly as not to startle any animal away. Petting and handling the forest creatures as if they were tame. Ezra followed his lead as Vin told him all of their names. Ezra sang songs of his childhood, in a strange tongue that soothed all the animals. Slowly teaching the words to Vin. Their duet ringing through the trees. They spent the afternoon laughing and playing with each other and all of Vin's forest friends. It was the best Ezra had felt since before he left the palace.

"That was amazing," Ezra breathed out as the animals slowly departed and the sun began to set in the west.

Vin nodded, glad to finally share that part of his life with someone his own age. The town's kids found him odd. Before the fire, he hated going to town. He was teased and tormented by the kids or bad-mouthed and gossiped about by the adults. After the fire, they didn't go to town very often. People tried to blame him for the death of his mother and little brother but his Pa quickly quieted that talk at the point of a sword. But stopping their words didn't stop what they thought or how they acted. He didn't understand what made him different but he knew he was. Other people saw it and didn't like it.

Now he usually only went once a year during the Summer Solstice Festival, when most people were distracted enough to ignore him, and he was fine with that.

Having a brother by his side was actually kind of nice.

"Hey what's that?" Vin suddenly bounded into the underbrush, disappearing from view. Ezra had a moment to panic that he'd been abandoned in the woods once again. But only for a moment because Vin was back carrying a very familiar-looking bag.

"That's mine!"

Vin looked down at the bag to see what was so exciting about it. It looked pretty ordinary to him but it made Ezra as animated as he'd ever seen him. So he handed it over with a shrug. Ezra practically ripped it open. Pulling out clothes, books, and small trinkets to show his brother. His grin was wide as refused to stop to breathe as he explained all the contents that he'd thought he'd lost forever. He didn't notice when something dropped out of one of his pant pockets. Vin's quick eye caught its movement. He picked it up and handed it to his brother. Ezra was wide-eyed as he took the easily offered item. He popped the sweet Fae delicacy into his mouth before he even remembered he hadn't been able to keep anything down for days. Surprisingly the sugary treat settled his stomach. The acid that had been constantly churning turned into a hungry rumble.

Vin grinned down at him, "See I told ya, a little fresh air would fix ya right up," Vin held out a handful of nuts and berries from his pocket. Ezra hungrily consumed them as well with a smile of gratitude.

"I think it's about dinner time," Vin laughed when Ezra's stomach growled in agreement.

The two brothers walked side by side back home. They both felt as light and happy as they could remember feeling in a very long time. The war was over.

Their father found them before they made it home. He crushed both of them into his arms with the desperation of a drowning man. He pulled away searching them over for harm.

"Are you both okay?"

Both boys nodded with a smile, finally agreeing on something.


	4. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Vin looked over at the new bed against the opposite side of his now shared bedroom wall. Ezra was turned away from him. He stared at his new brother's back, trying to determine if he was still awake or not. Ezra had eaten dinner without any problems. His energy seemed to only be increasing. Nathan and Josiah both seemed to think he'd be fine, finding nothing amiss in his health. But Vin knew he hadn't been getting very good rest before, so he didn't want to bug him if he was sleeping, but he really wanted to talk to his new brother in private. The whole evening Ezra's attention was taken by one of his uncles or his dad after everyone got back from the search for Ezra. He understood that they probably knew Ezra from before and missed him but he never really got a chance to finish getting to know the other boy. He missed having a brother. Adam had just been little yet he'd never judged or thought his brother was strange or bad. He understood Vin in a way his adult family members didn't.

"No one understands," He sighed to himself in frustration.

"Understands what, Vin?" Ezra asked tiredly, sitting up and turning up the lamp.

"Me," Vin admitted so quietly the other boy almost didn't hear him.

Ezra hesitated, studying his new brother before he spoke, "You're not human," He tried to soften the blow of his discovery, "You're a changeling."

His life spent among the Fae folk had blessed Ezra to recognize their kind. It took him a while to figure out Vin was a young changeling but he'd known something was off about his new brother from the start. His affinity to nature and pointed ears just the obvious hints. His eyes practically glowed when he was happy and flashed like blue flames when he was upset. They were neither as Ezra's words struck their target. The eyes dulled in despair.

"I'm just a mistake that someone tried to get rid of by stealing a real baby."

"That's not true."

"You were wanted, and I replaced you," Vin hissed, "I stole your life."

Ezra sat in silence, not sure how to respond to something while he didn't wholly agree with; he didn't completely disagree with either. Vin had replaced him.

"I didn't mean to," Vin ran out of the house, taking the silence as condemnation.

Ezra stood rooted to the spot as his hurt over being replaced drained away only to be replaced with guilt.

"Wait, Vin," His words came too little, too late as the other boy fled into the woods, "Come back!"

Vin tore through the trees he'd exited, with his brother by his side, just hours ago. He fought through the underbrush and overhanging branches. Tears blinded his eyes as he tried to escape Ezra's words. He wasn't his brother because Vin was a changeling. He didn't have a family. Everything he thought he had in his life was a lie. He was a lie, not even human.

Nothing about him was real. He had no one. There was nowhere for him left to go. Nobody wanted him. He was the one that was cast aside. He was the true interloper, not Ezra. He didn't belong.

"Vin!" Ezra cried out after his brother. What had he done? His brother sounded so confused about who he was that Ezra had spoken without really thinking about the consequences. He thought he'd be glad to know why he was so different than others. He didn't think about how Vin would feel being revealed as a changeling. He knew Vin was different the second he'd seen him. He'd been raised in the Fae Realm; he knew what one of their kind looked like. Vin was no more human than Maude was.

He found his brother. But he was in trouble.

"Vin!

* * *

Another harried dash through the trees, to search for his missing sons, was growing wearisome for all the men. But not as much as it was for the struggling father. Chris had woken to his sons' raised voices. He was too late to intercept them before they took off into the darkened woods.

Buck put on a burst of speed without explanation. Chris knew of his brother's gifts, felt dread fill his gut. Buck had sensed something coming. His sons were in trouble.

The group of searchers skidded to a stop in the eerily glowing clearing. The same clearing that Buck had found Ezra. The same clearing that Vin had claimed for his own; his elvish heritage gravitating to the magic of the gateway between realms. The very same clearing the two boys had spent the day in so much joy. The clearing held no more joy. The men found Vin hunched over in pain, with Ezra pounding on an invisible barrier separating the two. Chris charged the fairy circle with his sword drawn. Stabbing, slashing, and slicing in a frenzy to free his child.

Josiah closed his eyes in concentration. He would hold out his hand and mutter words in a foreign tongue. The invisible walls would waver, glow and spark but ultimately hold strong; keeping their captive within their grasp.

Vin had curled into himself, clasping his small hands over his pointed ears. Whatever he faced inside his prison caused him great distress and even pain. His helpless family could only watch as he faced his unknown assailant all alone. As a particularly violent pain lanced through his young body, his head jerked up from his knees. His glowing blue eyes searched for Chris. He called out for his father to save him as tears dripped down his fine-featured face.

"Can't you get him out like you did, Chris?" Buck begged.

"That was a different situation. Chris was human, stuck in a fairy circle. This is specifically designed to allow Fae in and keep humans out. Or in this case in. His own blood betrays him."

Chris howled in despair as he fell to his knees next to one son, reaching in vain for another. Vin's shaking hand splayed against his cage mirroring his father's. The changeling bit his lip against the pain of making contact with the barrier. Blood dripped down his chin as he refused to be parted from even the illusion of contact with his father.

"Are you saying that this was made for Vin?"

Josiah nodded, "It allows someone of mixed heritage in, but to get out it requires the strength of full-blooded Elf."

"It's a trap set for a changeling," Nathan dropped his head at the revelation.

Buck could not tear his eyes away from his family breaking into pieces once more, "Why the hell would someone be after Vin?"

"It's not the half breed I'm after." A dark-haired being appeared next to Vin. Her pale skin glowed in the pale moonlight. Her lips turned up in a smile but it didn't reach her eyes. They flashed and danced so quickly between colors and emotions that the men couldn't interpret them. They were so deep and mesmerizing that they couldn't pull away from her gaze. But she only had eyes for Chris. Chris's green eyes dulled as they glazed over. His slack face turned to the once familiar voice. It lolled him into a daze, where nothing else existed but her. He stood, hand dropping away from his son's phantom grasp. The blond man fell under her spell as quickly as he did all those years ago in her circle of influence. His sword fell from his lax fingers as he stepped towards her, reaching for her outstretched hand. She had come for him as she promised she would. Whispering her love into his mind. The time had come where they could finally be together again. Eternally.

"Ella," Chris breathed out her name in awe.

Her magic flung away his friends' reaching hand. Silencing their protests and spells with a wave of her hand. Buck and Josiah had stood in the way of their love once; she refused to let it happen again.

She refused to let anyone stand in her way. Not that human whore that dared think she could have Chris. She'd hired Maude to steal her child so that she could use it to lure the grieved father to her side. With the added benefit of breaking Chris away from the woman and seer brother that betrayed him by not protecting his child. Ella would whisper promises of familyhood long enough to get her lover back before she would have disposed of the whore's baby. But Maude betrayed her. She looked down at the human child, relishing the thought of his disposal before she went after the Elf that raised him. She would let him live only because he shared blood with Chris, he would go to work in the mines. A mercy she would not show to the changeling. She sneered down at the abomination at her feet. Neither human nor Fae; banished from the realm at their birth. They would never be accepted in either world, often killed for sport. She may love a human but she would never disgrace herself to have a halfling bastard.

Nothing now stood in her way, not even any sons, real or imagined, that he may have felt any responsibility for. She would never bear children but he would soon forget the novelty of the disgusting creatures in her presence. All they needed was each other. When they made love for the first time he would forget everyone but her.

The fairy fire should have destroyed everyone from Chris's old life. The whore had saved the abomination. That was her mistake. The changeling, they decided to raise as their own instead of destroying, was now used to bind Chris to his true love. She laughed at the irony. The whore was dead along with one of her offspring at Ella's order. Her firstborn son had been stolen from her. Now he would work and die alone in the dark in the realm he tried to escape. She brushed past the changeling as one would a pile of garbage as she opened the gate to allow her lover to finally enter her world. She thought all her plans had failed, but here was proof that she had succeeded in the end.

Ella was a being of supreme power. She was the Queen and she had come for her King.

She ignored the children as Chris stepped across the threshold. He hesitated only half a step before he was once more closing the distance separating them. The years, power struggles, and deals she had to make to get to this moment were finally worth it. Everything she had done; she had done for Chris. They were finally together at last, with nobody left to stand in their way.

The iron-infused sword bit into her side, as too small hands, struggled to utilize its power against her. Sarah's son stood tall, wielding his father's sword. Ezra was not about to lose the family he'd just found.

"Pa!" Vin cried rushing to the violently convulsing Chris. The man was fighting against her power; his will slipping loose of her control. The iron wound was weakening her power. The barrier dropped completely as the gate between worlds began to waver as her connection began to sever. She was out of time.

With an inhuman screech, she lunged for Chris. He would be her King whether he was willing or not.

The abominated intercepted her; slamming his small body into hers. They landed away from her goal as she felt the gate close. If she couldn't take him to her palace, she would destroy all the obstacles and have him here in his world. She would start with his sons. Of all the things she did for love, this was one she would enjoy almost as much as hearing the woman, who dared sleep with the one she loved, die.

Ezra had rushed to his fallen brother's side. With the oversized weapon hefted up, he stood to defend him. Vin was at his side, head raised high, as he waited for the fight over the fate of their father to continue once more. She laughed at their pathetic defense.

"Oh, boys," She waved her hand sending them flying back, "I know your true names. I have all the control here. I made you."

"What do you mean?" Ezra trying, to buy time as he used the sword to lever himself up.

"Why, dear, it was I who had you stolen and switched," She used her magic to control the human's sword arm to slice at his changeling brother. The iron burning the abomination worse than her own wound. They cried out in fear and pain as she sliced a few more times using her puppet.

She quickly had the sword at the changeling's throat using his brother's arm, "Pity, your mother put up a better fight, before I had her killed."

There was an anguished cry behind the group. Chris ran her through with his dagger, her magic too depleted to save her. He watched her fall to the ground with nothing but hatred in his eyes. In death she reverted back to her true form, there was nothing beautiful about her. On the inside, she'd been rotten and it finally showed on the outside. None of the men spared her a glance as they rushed to the boys' side.

Chris took a traumatized and hurting son in each arm. He clung to them just as tightly as they clung to him. Their tears and blood dampened his shirt as he tried to soothe them. He kept his voice low as he told each of them how much he loved them and how proud he was to have them as sons. There would be time to talk and feel guilty later. He would soon start the process to heal all their wounds both physical and mental. But at that moment he allowed himself to just bask in the joy of having two of his sons by his side. Nobody was going to take his sons from him. He'd lost so much in his life. Starting with the mother he'd never know. Chris was slowly building his life again after the loss of his wife and child. With the help of his brothers and sons, he was ready to begin to live again with his family, old and new, by his side.


End file.
